Biometric Security Systems

The verification of individuals for computer forensics purposes is achieved using a recognized ID credential issued from a secure and effective identity confirmation process. A secure personal ID system design will include a complex set of decisions to select and put in place the appropriate policies and procedures, architecture, technology, and staff to deliver the desired level of security. A secure biometric ID system can provide individuals with trusted credentials for a wide range of applications-from enabling access to facilities or secure networks, to proving an individual’s rights to services, to conducting online transactions.

With the preceding in mind, biometric security systems for computer forensics purposes are defined as automated methods of identifying or authenticating the identity of a living person based on unique physiological or behavioral characteristics. Biometric technologies, when used with a well-designed ID system, can provide the means to ensure that an individual presenting a secure ID credential has the absolute right to use that credential. Smart cards have the unique ability to store large amounts of biometric and other data, carry out their own on-card functions, and interact intelligently with a smart card reader. Secure ID systems that require the highest degree of security and privacy are increasingly implementing both smart card and biometric technology.

Since the invention of the personal computer in 1981, new computer technologies have provided unintended benefits to criminals in the commission of both traditional crimes and computer crimes. Today computers are used in every facet of life to create messages, compute profits, transfer funds, access bank accounts, and browse the Internet for good and bad purposes. Notebook computers provide computer users with the benefits of portability as well as remote access to computer networks. Computer users today have the benefits of super computer speeds and fast Internet communications on a worldwide basis. Computers have increased productivity in business, but they also increase the likelihood of company policy abuses, government security breaches, and criminal activity.